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00:00.0
Thank you for watching!
00:30.0
Thank you for watching!
01:00.0
Salamat po, Mr. President.
01:30.0
Voting Systems for the 2025 National and Local Elections
01:35.0
With an 18.827 billion peso approved budget for contract,
01:41.4
ang kontratang ito ang pinakamalaki sa kasaysayan ng mga halalan sa Pilipinas.
01:48.6
It dwarfs the aggregate total of 25 billion pesos spent for poll automation from 2010 to 2022.
02:00.0
Ang nakapagtataka, Mr. President, dear colleagues,
02:03.9
the bidding for the richest single contract in Philippine election history
02:09.1
was able to attract only a single bidder,
02:13.2
a joint venture composed of South Korea's Miru Systems Company Limited
02:18.2
and Philippine companies Integrated Computer Systems,
02:23.1
St. Timothy Construction Corporation,
02:25.8
and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies.
02:29.4
This is the first time that we have had a bid for the richest single contract in Philippine election history.
02:30.0
This company, Miru, is no stranger to controversy.
02:34.0
Miru was previously involved in supplying automated election systems
02:38.1
for, aside from its home country,
02:41.5
the Kyrgyz Republic,
02:43.4
the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
02:45.9
and the Republic of Iraq.
02:48.8
In Congo, researchers reportedly found that the machines Miru tried to sell there
02:54.6
were repackaged equipment originally intended for Argentina.
03:00.0
Where similar machines faced pushback.
03:03.9
Ang tawag nga sa Congo na mga election machines doon ay cheating machines.
03:09.9
In Iraq, a 2018 Reuters report found that Miru's machines were
03:16.3
at the heart of fraud allegations that led to a manual recount in some areas
03:23.5
after the May 12 election, close quote.
03:27.7
Ayon sa mga mananaliksik,
03:29.3
30% and 75% of the voting machines supplied by Miru, respectively,
03:37.0
were affected by election day glitches and malfunctions
03:41.0
which led to failure of elections in those countries.
03:46.2
And while these doubts linger in our minds,
03:49.3
doubts caused by electoral troubles in fragile states
03:53.1
like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq,
03:56.4
it seems that there is also a clear violation,
03:59.3
a violation of law.
04:02.6
Prototype nga ba ang automated counter machines?
04:07.0
During post-qualification,
04:09.5
the phase of the competitive bidding process
04:12.0
in which the winning bid is validated
04:14.5
to ensure that it meets the requirements in the bid documents,
04:19.4
Comele Commissioner Marlon Casquejo
04:21.8
admitted that the ACM being presented was a prototype.
04:28.0
this machine is a prototype.
04:29.0
This machine is ours.
04:30.2
It really belongs to the Comelec.
04:32.7
We made our wish list.
04:35.1
Miru just followed.
04:36.8
So, if you noticed,
04:38.8
this is a customized machine
04:40.8
which has not yet been produced, close quote.
04:59.0
So, I just apologize, Mr. President,
05:08.1
dear colleagues, na nawala yung audio,
05:10.1
pero yan po ay audio clip ng interview sa On The Line
05:14.9
ng One News kay Atty. Rex Laudianco.
05:22.9
But, Section 12 of Republic Act No. 8436,
05:29.0
the automated election law as amended
05:32.5
requires that the system produced,
05:36.9
that the system procured
05:38.2
must have been successfully used
05:40.5
in a prior electoral exercise here or abroad.
05:45.1
Kaya ang dami ang nagtatanong,
05:47.2
does Section 12 of the automated election law
05:50.2
prohibit the use of such prototype ACMs
05:53.9
in connection with the 2025 elections?
05:59.0
bakit pinayagan ang prototype ACMs ng Miru?
06:04.1
Even a simple online search will reveal
06:06.4
that there are at least 20 suppliers
06:09.0
of automatic voting machines worldwide.
06:14.0
the Comelec was able to attract only a single bid
06:17.5
for the largest single contract
06:19.9
in Philippine election history.
06:23.4
Dako naman tayo sa issue ng kanilang local partners.
06:28.1
just what is a construction company doing
06:32.0
leasing voting machines to the Filipino people?
06:36.1
A construction company that appears to share
06:39.0
principal office address of another company,
06:42.7
St. Gerard Construction General Contractor and Development Corporation,
06:48.2
blacklisted by the Department of Public Works and Highways,
06:52.9
as shown by this document, Mr. President.
06:55.6
The two companies also,
06:58.1
share a common incorporator,
07:01.0
a certain Pacifico F. Discon.
07:05.4
Was St. Timothy incorporated
07:08.0
to circumvent the blacklisting of St. Gerard?
07:14.0
There are also reports,
07:15.9
St. Timothy wrote the Comelec,
07:18.4
revoking the authority of a certain Mr. Jinbok Chung
07:22.7
to represent the company in the contract signing
07:26.1
for the procurement project.
07:28.1
St. Timothy said that,
07:32.4
given the magnitude of the potential liability,
07:35.8
it was not fully informed
07:37.4
of the scope of its responsibilities
07:40.0
under the contract.
07:44.4
If even a blacklisted company
07:46.5
smells something fishy,
07:49.1
maybe that should be considered
07:50.7
a double red flag?
07:54.8
Was there competitive bidding?
07:56.8
Republic Act No. 9184,
08:00.2
otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act,
08:04.3
requires that all public procurement be done
08:07.2
with certain exceptions through competitive bidding.
08:11.8
In a paper entitled
08:13.3
Intensifying Competition in Public Procurement
08:16.9
by Tatray, Voros Marti, and Juhas,
08:21.3
published August of last year,
08:23.7
it was found that,
08:25.0
encouraging intense competition in public procurement
08:29.1
is of fundamental importance
08:31.8
for the presence of a sufficient number of competitors
08:35.4
and their active commitment to bidding
08:38.3
is a key element of efficient public spendings.
08:44.3
In this controversy,
08:45.8
it was confirmed that while five companies,
08:49.5
including Dominion Voting Systems,
08:52.5
Indra Philippines Incorporated,
08:54.4
AMA Group Holdings Corporation,
08:59.4
they purchased bidding documents,
09:02.1
but all but Miru declined to submit bids.
09:07.2
Napakalaking kontrata.
09:09.3
Wala ni isang ibang bidder.
09:12.1
Yes, Smartmatic was disqualified
09:14.7
because of its own money laundering controversies,
09:18.6
but there were others.
09:20.5
Bakit biglang naglaho na lang?
09:22.5
The organization,
09:24.4
for Economic Cooperation and Development,
09:28.4
in its guidelines for fighting bid rigging
09:31.3
in public procurement,
09:33.4
defines bid suppression
09:35.3
as an agreement among competitors
09:38.9
in which one or more companies
09:41.7
agree to refrain from bidding
09:44.1
or to withdraw a previously submitted bid
09:47.6
so that the designated winner's bid will be accepted.
09:54.4
means that bidders
09:55.5
other than the designated winner
09:58.9
do not submit bids
10:00.7
or are prevented from doing so.
10:03.8
Some quarters are asking,
10:06.3
is this what happened here?
10:09.2
Is this real competition?
10:11.6
Or is the real competition
10:13.5
in the back rooms of the halls of power?
10:19.2
This makes me wonder, Mr. President,
10:21.2
how many other substantial contracts
10:24.4
have been awarded to the lone entity
10:27.4
who bothered to submit a bid?
10:30.3
Thus, I agree with Senator Angara,
10:33.6
it appears it might be time to re-examine
10:36.4
the legal framework we have set in place
10:39.7
for public procurement
10:41.0
to prevent the system from being gamed,
10:44.6
rigged, and manipulated for private gain.
10:48.0
Let's bring back real competition
10:50.6
in public bidding.
10:52.1
At ang aking huling tanong,
10:56.2
to the 402 million pesos we spent
10:59.6
to procure automated election software,
11:02.8
including the source code,
11:04.8
to enable a proper source code review thereof?
11:09.0
Gone with the wind?
11:12.5
these questions are very important.
11:15.3
Hindi lang po dahil public procurement
11:18.0
requires the highest duty of care
11:20.9
and responsibility from our public servants.
11:24.1
But also because,
11:25.6
since electoral machines are involved,
11:28.6
they strike at the very heart of our democracy.
11:33.4
Always, but most especially,
11:36.2
in these turbulent and divisive political times,
11:40.1
the people's right to suffrage
11:42.3
must be protected from fraud
11:44.9
or the perception of fraud and kept sacrosanct.
11:49.2
Salamat po, Mr. President.
11:52.7
Nagustuhan niyo ba ang ganitong
11:55.5
Mag-follow sa Informador FB page
11:57.8
at mag-subscribe sa Informador YouTube channel.
12:01.0
Ang Informador ay nilikha ng mga staff
12:03.0
ni Atty. Ricky Tomotorgo
12:06.4
upang lalong lumawak ang inaabot
12:08.2
ng pagpapalaganap ng katotohanan
12:10.2
at labanan ang fake news
